Chaosplay

Yup this is my favorite book on Ajax. I love Head First books but this one far exceeded my expectations.

Let me tell you a little bit about myself. I am a Java programmer with little bit of experience in web technologies. Before reading this book I had used JavaScript libraries such as Script.aculo.us. So Ajax was not a totally brand new technology for me.

I bought this book because for upcoming project, I wanted a deeper understanding of Ajax. Also sometimes, while using Scriptaculous, debugging was not easy, because I didn’t know what was really going on behind the scenes.

After reading this book, I have better understanding of Ajax. This doesn’t mean I am Ajax expert now and ready to write my own library. I will stick with existing libraries. But I feel this book has given me enough basic concepts of Ajax (and also some general web design concepts) that I can use Ajax libraries without breaking anything unintentionally.

I don’t think I will read another book on Ajax unless I am doing some custom Ajax coding.

Here is Amazon Affiliate link (make me rich (: Head First Ajax

The Drunkard's Walk

It was a good book. As a math geek, I knew most of concept or theories presented in book but never applied those concepts in real life. It def. changed my views on many subjects in life.
Some parts of book were too boring. I had to struggle to keep reading a few pages. Don’t get me wrong explaining a math formula in plain English is no easy task. But I would have loved to see a formula written in one line, instead of reading a paragraph.
I loved the first & the last chapters. This book will help you realize that most things in life are not what they seem. Success has a lot to do with luck. Yes hard work is important but so does the factors beyond our control. Basically if you want to succeed, you have to be ready for many failures.
My favorite quote from the book was by Thomas Watson, “If you want to succeed, you have to double your failure rate.”

Get it from Amazon.com (affiliate link): The Drunkard’s Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives

I want to buy this book but first, I have to find some other book to pad my order over $25, so that I get free shipping from Amazon.

Note: Above link is affliate link.

–Update———————–

Read my review here